Continuous method of cracking hydrocarbon oils



Feb. E9 1924,

E. O. LNTON CONTINUOUS METHOD OF CRAOKING HYDROOARBON OILS Filed May 26 Feb. E9 1924.

E. of LINTON CONTINUOUS METHOD OF CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26 m: maagd Ml@ Feb.- i9 1924-.

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nnNns'r o. LINION, or INDIANA Hannon, INDIANA, .assIGNo'a To LIN'roN easoLINn raocnss eoMPaNY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, a CORPORATION or nnnawaan.

ONTINUOUS METHD OF CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS.

Application led May 26, 1921. Serial No. 472,797.

To all lwhom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, ERNEST O. LINTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indiana Harbor, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Methods of Cracking Hydrocarbon gils, of which the following is a specificaion.

My invention relates to a continuous method of cracking hydrocarbon oils and articularly heavy oils having an asphalt )ase, such as Mexican 'Panuco' oil and asphaltic and semi-asphaltic fluxes. y

Some of these oils contain considerable quantities of water, up ro l0 or 12%. Such oil I first dehydrate by passing it through a still in which the water is removed by distillation, the hot oil being then. preferably fed directly in continuous flow into the main still of a special construction invented by me, in which the hydrocarbons havinglower boiling points are distilled and cracked ywhile in the va or phase in the heated upper portion of tie still, the heavy asphaltic ingredients owing oft continuousl from the bottom of the still.

T e novelty of the invention resides in the gradual raising of the temperature of the heavy oil while owing in a film or stream over heated surfaces within an externally heated still, whereby the vaporizable constituents are freely liberated under practically atmospheric pressure into the highly heated spaces within the still and are then cracked.

A further feature of novelty, aside from the cracking step, is the manner in which the oil is heated to a temperature sufiicient to vaporize one or more ingredients by delivering it into a closed chamber having a perforated bottom and then causing it to How over extended heated surfaces, contained within an externally heated still, and arranged to provide a tortuous passage for the upwardly flowing vapors, thereby securing a thorough intermingling' of such vapors.

The apparatus in which my process is Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the dehydrater or still;

Fig. 3 is a` vertical section through the second still;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the parts below the plane 1-1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5l is a plan of the plate 5;

Fig. 6 is a detail showing the manner of connecting the plate 5 to the cones .14 or 4:0.

The plant, as a whole, is shown in Fig. 1. Crude oil is delivered by pipe 2 into a su ply tank A from which it flows into a ehydrator B and then into the main still C located in a heating chamber D. rlthe asphalt flows into tank E and the evolved vapors from the still into the condenser F and tank G, from which the condensate may be delivered by pump H into storage .tank I and therefrom vinto a second still J, connected at its bottom to a residuum tank M,

yand still C are enclosed within a closed brick setting N, having one or more stacks orV exit flues, O, O, for combustion gases rising from the combustion chamber. D rlhe dehydrator B consists of a shell 3 supported on l vbeams and spaced Yfrom the walls of the setting N, so that the hot gases pass around it.

The pipe l1 extends downwardly through the top of the dehydratorinto a receptacle 40 preferably conical, having a bottom or distributing plate 5, provided with a series of openings 6. Located below the openings 6 is an annular deflector T having notches or openings 8 around its outer odge, through which the liquid ows on to the conical bottom wall 9 of the dehydrator. F lues 10 and 11, provided with dampcrs or valves (not shown) permit the introduction of air to cool the hot ascending gases to the desired degree.

The water vapor and any other vapor which may have been formed are carried off through pipe 12 to a condenser.

From the dehydrator, the water-freed oil iows throu h pipe 13 into the main still C, all parts o w ich are subjected to the hot ases coming from the combustion chamber.

have a lower or vaporizing section and uphe still for convenience may be said to through the apertures into the space below.

The cover of this chamber may be omitted, but I prefer theiconstruction shown, as the more volatile hydrocarbon vapors are compelled to pa out through the openings and are thus directed into the stream of vapors rising around the outside of plate 15.` The liquid oil drops on to the annular apertureil` delector 16, having openings 17 through which the oil flows on to the downwardly inclined bottom 42 where the removal of the volatile ingredients is completed and the heavy residue or asphalt flows out through pipe 18 into tank E, The still body C has an annular flange 19, resting on I beams 20, suprted on the walls of the heating chamber. genes/th the still is a defiector 21, consisting of a metal plate, covered with ganister or other refractory material.

The still is heated by the hot gases coming from oir or gas burners 22. 22,l of any suitable construction.

At the upper portion ot' the still, there is a .tower 23 into which the vapors from the body of the still pass through a contracted opening 24. The vapors expand-through this opening into the tower, which is provided with a closed lling cylinder 25, car ried by the pipe 13. The vapors are thus caused to pass into contact with the inner heated wall of the tower. The heating gases are deiiected toward the tower by the inner wall oit' a closed 'sheet-metal chamber 26, the dead air space Within such chamber serving as a heat insulation. on supports 27 at the bottom and is secured at the .top by bolts extendingthrough the wall of chamber N. Manholes 28. 28 alford aoccess to the dehydrator and to the still.

From the top ot' the tower, the va )ors pass through pipe 29 to condenser F, which may be ot' any suitable construction, preferably such as is shown in my application Serial No. L29,190, tiled Dec. 8, 1020.

rlhe distillate collected in tank G may be subjected to any suitable treatment in a. separate plant, but I prefer to deliver it by means ol" pump H and pipe 30 to tank l, whence it flows into the. second still d (see Fig. 3) located within a heating chamber l, which is provided with a burner 32 beneath the still and additional burners 33, 33 for heating the upper conical portion of such still. Connected to the still and extending outside of the heating chamber, is a tower. through which passes the enlargement 35 of pipe 31, and from which va ors are delivered through pipe 36 to the nal condenser l. Pyrometers, T. T. T2, T, in

This chamber restsk dicate 4temperatures within the still and def hydrator, and thermometers T4, T57 indlcate condenser temperatures.

The operation is as follows:

The crude oil, as for example, an asphaltic base oil,L such as Panuco 011, Yis delivered through pipe 4:k on to the hot bottom 5 of the receptacle 40, over 'which itflows in a thin layer, the liquid and vapor being delivered through the holes 6. The'liquid oil drops on to and spreads over the annular deflector 7 and Hows through the openings 8 on to the extended surface of thel downwardly inclined bottoni portion 0 and out through the pipe 13. The temperature of the combustion gases passing around the dehydrator, either with or without cooling by air coming through pipes 10 and 11 is kept at such a degree that the pyrometer T6 located on or near the bottom ot' the dehydrator indi- Cates a .temperature ot' 350 to 100o F. Under these conditions I find that substantially all the water may be removed from watcr-containing heavy asphaltic oils or fluxes.

The dehydrated oil may be treated separately, but I prefer to run it while still hot directly' into a still of the, construction above described.

The oil delivered through pipe 13 is preheated while passing through the tower 23, which is surrounded by and enveloped in the hot gases from the combustion chamber. The volatile constituents of the oil are driven off as it spreads out over the eX- tended surfaces of the heated distributing plate 15, deflector 16 and inclined bottom 42 ot' the still, which is directly subjected to the hot gases ot' the combustion chamber. The metal parts within the still are heated by conduction ot heat from the walls of the 'still and by the continuous passage therethrough or thereovcr ot' the heatedvapors. rlhe rate of distillation is such that substantially no pressure is developed in the still, and the, lighter hydrocarbons are thus free to vaporize from the large surface of the film of oil into the open spaces within the still. The vapors pass upwardly through the central opening in the annular deflector 10 and around the edge oic receptacle 14, the intcrminglcd vapors then passing into Contact with the hot upper portion of the still proper, and expanding through the, opening'24- into Contact with the hot wall ot' the tower 23, and are thus maintained in a' superheated state and under cracking conditions until they leave the still.

an indication of the order of temperatures. which l have found to be applicable in the treatment of Panuco oil and asphaltic or semi-asphaltic i'iuxes, the heat is so controlled that they pyrometers T indicate a temperature between SOOO-8500 F., usually about 820o F.; that the pyrometer T1 llO indicates about 875; and the yrometer T2 at the top of the tower inlcates from 900-950 F.

The rate ofl flow of oil through the still is so adjusted that there is no accumulation of asphalt or oil in the still., Ythe vapors-being driven off from a thin film of oil flowing overhot surfaces, while the liberated vapors passing upwardly over the heated still and tower walls are subjected to a maintained temperature high enough to ensure thorough cracking, with the resulting formation of a vapor mixture which u on condensation 'yields a distillate of much ess specific gravity than the original oil.

For example from a heavy asphaltic flux of 12.3 B. there was obtained 64.5% of distillate of gravity 43.7 B., and 30% of asphalt. Upon distillation of this 43.7 B. product there was obtained a 450 E.' P. gasoline of 54.6 B. gravity, which consti- 'tuted 37 .6% of the original stock.

For subsequent distillations l prefer to employ the still illustrated in Fig. 3, and described above, into which the distillate is run from the tank 1. The still is gradually heated up to 500 F., the'distillate being collected in one or more condensers K.

Any gases which are formed may be collected and disposed of in the usual manner.

While l. have described in detail the apparatus which I have used in practice, modifications may be made within the scope of my invention.`

I claim:

l'. IThe method of cracking heavy hydrocarbon oils, which consistsin passing such oil as a thin sheet or film in continuous flow over heated surfaces within an externally heated still chamber, whereby vaporizable constituents are freely liberated into the still spaces, and are there subjected t0 a cracking temperature, permitting the hot vapors to expand into a heated eXpansion chamber, subjecting the vapors therein to further heating at a maintained cracking temperature, condensing the cracked vapors, and withdrawing the liquid residuum.

2. lThe process as claimed 1n claim 1, in which the vapors are subjected to the maximum temperature before leaving the expansion chamber.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which the oil is first dehydrated by passing it as a thin sheet or film in continuous fiow over heated surfaces within an externally heated still chamber, and then delivered to the cracking still.

4. rlhe method of treating heavy hydrocarbon oils which consists in passing such oil as a thin sheet or film in continuous flow over a heated surface in a closed chamber within an externally heated still, ermitting the oil and generated vapor to ow therefrom, and commingling such vapor with the vapors generated b theflow of the oil over a succession of cated surfaces also within Said still. v i

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature.4 4

naans'r o. marcia. 

